US envoy visits Zimbabwe to mend relations

The former U.S. envoy to the United Nations Andrew Young on Tuesday met Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe to mend relations that had soured over the past decade. Young told journalists after meeting Mugabe that the U.S. State Department had sent him to Zimbabwe to assure the nation that it wanted to see relations revert to the state prior to the land reforms of 2000. The U.S. also wants to see peace prevailing in the country. Relations between Zimbabwe and the U.S., the United Kingdom, the European Union and other western countries turned for the worst following the land reforms under which most white farmers lost their land mainly to formerly disadvantaged blacks. Violence rocked the countryside as independence war veterans led the farm invasions, during which several white farmers died. Zimbabwe was also been accused of rigging the 2000 general elections in Mugabe's favor. The U.S. has since imposed sanctions on the southern African country. Young said there was no reason why the sanctions should stay. "I should say I have never particularly approved of the sanctions personally, but I have never been able to get rid of them," he said.